Device Helps Prevent Kidney Dysfunction

A new device is designed to help prevent kidney dysfunction in patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) while undergoing coronary procedures.

The combination of chronic kidney disease and CHF greatly increases a patient's risk of developing kidney failure from the dye used during an angiography or stenting procedure. The Benephit Delta system is a catheter-based medical device that enables the administration of specified medications and other therapeutic agents directly to the renal arteries. The system can provide selective infusion to both renal arteries simultaneously, using a single catheter. It is designed to provide targeted renal therapy (TRT), an alternative to systemic intravenous infusion of medications to treat kidney dysfunction related to CHF.

The procedure was recently used on a male patient at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital (NY, USA) who had recently had angioplasty to treat two severely blocked coronary arteries. Five stents were placed in his coronary arteries, which required large amounts of dye. The Benephit Delta system was used to deliver a medication (fenoldopam) directly into the patient's kidneys through the renal arteries to increase blood flow. The patient did not develop the potentially life-threatening condition known as radiocontrast nephropathy (RCN). Cardiologists estimate that about 20% of patients undergoing coronary interventions could benefit from treatment for RCN.

The Benefit Delta system was developed by FlowMedica, a medical device company (Fremont, CA, USA).





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